Spin textures are nanometer sized structures stabilized at room temperature (RT) within crystalline and thin film materials. They comprise a variety of intriguing electron spin arrangements that separate oppositely oriented magnetic domains. First discovered as domain walls (DW) in magnetic thin films of different thicknesses, these spin textures are made up of magnetization vectors that rotate about (Bloch texture), or perpendicular to (Néel texture) the normal of the DW.[1]}, [2]}, [3]}, [4]} More recently, chiral spin textures, such as chiral DWs and skyrmions, have become a growing field of research (Fig. 1, centre). Contrary to conventional achiral Bloch or Néel DWs, chiral DWs exhibit a fixed handedness or a preferred direction for the winding of spins.[5]}, [6]} Notable among these are magnetic skyrmions - topologically wound spin structures stabilized in a ferromagnetic background of opposite magnetization. The two most common skyrmion structures - Bloch and Néel-type skyrmions - are made up of spins which rotate perpendicular to or radially, respectively, from the core to the boundary. [7]}, [8]}
